'ELLO GUVANAH

I PURPOSELY ROLLED OUT TONIGHT WITH NO BOTTLE AND NO FOOD. I know myself, and if I'd rolled with food and drink I would have ridden a lot longer. That's one type of cycling governor.

Sure enough, about 60 minutes I started to get real bonky.

Bonking is never a good idea. It can do lasting damage to your muskels that can take weeks to recover from. But, this was a baby bonk.

... back to the plot of this email.

Governors are things that limit what we want to do.

The awesome Joe Friel, in The Cyclist's Training Bible, dedicated a big chunk of his message to figuring out our what he calls our limiters and what to do about them.

An obvious limiter is power to weight ratio. If you have a low power to weight ratio climbing is going to be hard.

Coach Loran and I were talking about this today, because she's lost 16 pounds using her Fit56 program and she can't believe how much better she's climbing.

The other side of that is getting stronger.

And, as I've talked about lately... not only is getting stronger easier than you think - 2-4% of your day - but it's not just about getting those gnarly pistons below your hips more stouter, there's much speed to be gained by strengthening our core and upper body.

Position on the bike can be a limiter.

Pro bike fitters will tell ya, a proper fit can get you 10-15% more power. Even if they're off by 75%, a 2.5-4% gain in power can easily be the difference between winning and losing.

Equipment can be a limiter.

Going from clunky wheels to aero with ceramic bearings can to anybody from zero to hero.

Then there's apparel... is that jersey a parachute only a drag racer could love? There's a reason our Speed jersey looks like it's made for a prepubescent punk. First, it's made from the finest Italian yarns that have massive stretch capabilities. Second, it's made to be skin tight... no flappy crappy.

Did you know... Studies show...

A good aero helmet is on par with a good set of aero wheels in increasing your speed?... and heckuva lot less of an investment.

Did you know...I looooovve KASK helmets?

I always thought they looked super cool. Then my buddy John got a job at H2 and started repping the helmets. He had a sample in his car. I tried it on...

... it fit perfectly. Really. Like, put it on and never take it off. Which is exactly what I did. I'm not sure how John handled his next few sales calls, because that was his only sample and I wasn't giving it back.

I've worn my Protone from crits to Leadville to LoToJa. Same helmet, for 4 years.